Patricia Rodriguez, assistant professor of politics
The Chilean government’s efforts to dissuade the native Mapuche people from their hunger strike may not accomplish much, Patricia Rodriguez told The Cutting Edge. The Piñera administration’s reliance on discussions to address the Mapuche conflict is nothing new, she cautions. Hundreds of these discussions between Chile’s largest indigenous group and government representatives have been held since the 1990s, and most have amounted to nothing. Not only do Piñera’s repeated promises of dialogue lack substance and sincerity, but they also serve to “sideline the hunger strike and the important legal and historical justice issues that the hunger strike is meant to bring attention to,” she said.